Friday, September 15, 2017

These Cookies will Fly!




LISTEN TO THE PODCAST

Off your dessert plate that is!  Even though they're made from something as slow moving as old fashioned molasses. And that's because everyone will want to eat them!  Susan Reid, who co-wrote The King Arthur Essential Cookie Cookbook, stopped by Tonia's Kitchen to talk about her delicious take on Molasses Cookies.  Susan told Tonia that she combines room temperature butter and sugar with baking soda, salt, cinnamon, sugar, cloves, ginger and eggs.  Blend the ingredients together and scoop the dough with a cookie scoop.  Roll it in sugar and refrigerator before baking.  Molasses moves slow, but these cookies will move fast!

COOKIES

  • 1 cup unsalted butter
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup molasses OR 1/4 cup molasses + 1/4 cup ginger syrup
  • 2 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons ground cloves
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 2 large eggs
  • 3 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
  • sugar, for coating; pearl sugar; sparkling white (coarse) sugar; or granulated sugar

GINGER SYRUP

  • 4 cups fresh ginger root, unpeeled, cut into 1/8" to ¼" slices (a food processor makes short work of this task)
  • 3 1/2 cups sugar
  • 3 1/2 cups water

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) two baking sheets.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until they're light and fluffy.
  3. Beat in the molasses (or molasses and ginger syrup), baking soda, salt, and spices.
  4. Add the eggs, beating well and scraping down the sides of the bowl to make sure everything is incorporated.
  5. Stir in the flour.
  6. Scoop the soft dough into 1 ½" balls; a tablespoon cookie scoop works well here.
  7. Roll them in granulated sugar, coarse sugar, or pearl sugar.
  8. Space the cookies on the prepared baking sheets, leaving about 2 ½" between them.
  9. Bake them for 10 minutes. The centers will look soft and puffy; that's OK.
  10. Remove the cookies from the oven, and cool them on the pan for 10 minutes before transferring them to a rack to cool completely.
  11. To make easy, pretty shaped cookies, use a cutter smaller than the cookie to cut a shape from the center of each cookie, while the cookies are still mildly warm. Serve both the original cookies, and the shapes you've cut from them.
  12. To make ginger syrup: In a large, heavy saucepan, bring the ginger, sugar, and water to a boil.
  13. Boil the mixture for 45 to 60 minutes, until it registers 216°F to 220°F on an instant-read or candy thermometer. The lower temperature will give you a thinner syrup, one that's easy to stir into drinks; the higher temperature will yield a thicker syrup, better for baking. You can't tell how thick the syrup will be while it's still hot; you have to go by its temperature, as it'll thicken as it cools.
  14. Remove the pan from the burner and carefully strain the syrup into a non-reactive container. Store in the refrigerator indefinitely. Yield: about 2 1/4 cups syrup.